30 Issues in 30 Days: Your Issues

Our 30 Issues in 30 Days series is now underway. Here are a few more of the stories we've received so far from you. Share your own story and we may use it on the air or online.

Your issue: Appointing new Supreme Court justicesWhy it matters: This was a major factor in my support for Obama in 2008 and has not been mentioned in this election cycle at all. As the justices age and retire, who will be appointed to replace them? I applaud President Obama's appointment of justices Sotomayor and Kagan and hope to see more appointments along those lines.— Jo C., Westford, Mass.

Your issue: HIV/AIDSWhy it matters: Health care reform will eventually end federal support for disease-specific education, prevention and outreach work. Here in Massachusetts, though, we know that the state’s investment in targeted HIV/AIDS prevention has resulted in a 54 percent drop in new HIV diagnoses since 1999. That represents about 5,000 people who have remained negative who might otherwise have become positive, and it will eventually save the state more than $2 billion (yes, billion with a "b") in health care costs. How can we continue the public health outreach needed to keep HIV transmission at historically low levels (at least in Massachusetts?) and how can we apply the lessons learned in behavioral intervention to other chronic conditions like diabetes, hypertension and cardiovascular disease that are, essentially, bankrupting and overwhelming our health care system?— Susan R., Arlington, Mass.

Your issue: Education inequitiesWhy it matters: As a teacher I see a disproportionate amount of educational resources being assigned to the most challenged students to the detriment of those that are or could be the best and brightest. How can the potential Harvard scholar be required to consistently work with students who are unable to complete grade-level work and still achieve their own educational best? We will never have a competitive "best and brightest" H.S. population if students with high potential are consistently placed in heterogeneous classrooms. In my experience most teachers agree that true heterogeneous classrooms, where students with severe cognitive and behavioral challenges are mixed through the general population, create a situation that makes it nearly impossible to inspire those with greater ability to strive for even higher levels of understanding. While heterogeneous grouping is beneficial to low-ability students who benefit from positive role models, the rest of the classroom population ends up being slowed down.— Donna L., North Kingstown, R.I.